Kendal is responsible for the layouts of Heartland’snewspapers and other publications. In addition, Kendal also produces other graphics, designs, and advertisements for Heartland.org. He is also the host of Heartland's “In the Tank Podcast,” uploaded to the Heartland Daily Podcast iTunes feed every Friday.

John Nothdurft returns in episode #34 of the In The Tank Podcast. This weekly podcast features (as always) interviews, debates, and roundtable discussions that explore the work of think tanks across the country. The show is available for download as part of the Heartland Daily Podcast every Friday. Today’s podcast features work from ALEC, the Tax Foundation, the Freedom Foundation of Minnesota, and the Competitive Enterprise Institute.

Featured Work of the Week

This week’s featured work of the week is ALEC‘s Rich States, Poor States Report (9th ed). The report ranks all 50 states on 15 economic policies, including various tax, regulatory, and labor policies that give state lawmakers yearly comparisons of how policies are helping or hurting their economic outlook. John and Donny discuss the winners and the losers of this report and talk about what their major takeaways are.

In the World of Think Tankery

Today Donny and John get set from Tax Day. They discuss Tax Freedom Day, a measurement determined by the Tax Foundation. Tax Freedom Day is the date “when the nation as a whole has earned enough money to pay its total tax bill for the year.” 2016’s Tax Freedom Tax falls on April 24, 114 days into the year.

The last topic discussed by Donny and John is the crack down on free speech by a coalition of Attorneys general regarding global warming. The Competitive Enterprise Institute recently received a Subpoena demanding they turnover a decade’s worth of documents, including emails, donor information, statements, and other documents relating to climate change policy. Donny and John talk about the chilling effect this move has on the global warming debate and how it amounts to an attack on the first amendment.

I hope you’ll listen in, subscribe, and leave a review for our podcast on iTunes. We welcome your feedback in our new show’s inbox at InTheTankPodcast@gmail.com or follow us on twitter @InTheTankPod.